Jaguars QB Garrard silences critics in win over Denver

David Garrard has heard whispers all offseason about not being the future at QB for the Jaguars. Sunday, he answered those whispers by shouting back.

All Garrard did in the opening day 24-17 win over the Broncos was complete 16 of 21 passes for 170 yards with three touchdowns.

He played smart, confident, and didn’t get rattled when things didn’t go the teams way. His passer rating in the victory was the highest of his career at 138.9 and the second highest in the league the first week of the season behind Vince Young’s 142.8 rating.

Garrard will have a bad day, or two, in 2010, but coming out and showing some poise in the first game should show the naysayers that the QB isn’t ready to just allow the starting QB job to be taken away from him anytime soon.

For his efforts, he was one of the three finalists for the FedEx Air Player of the Week award along with Tom Brady of New England and Jay Cutler of the Bears.

This week Garrard can turn even more heads when he and the team travel to San Diego to play a Chargers team that is reeling a bit after a Monday night loss to the Chiefs.

If Garrard can have a repeat performance on the road in San Diego, the whispers will get even more silent in Jacksonville and around the country.